In the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about the cadre of artists who are asking audiences to put their cell phones down during live shows. That request raises plenty of questions: Aren’t paying fans free to do what they want? Or are those omnipresent screens changing the live-show atmosphere for the [...]

Last week, the long-running Minneapolis underground rap duo Atmosphere shared their new track “Kanye West,” which had basically nothing to do with Kanye West. Today, the group gives us director Pete Lee’s “Kanye West” video, which does the song better by having basically nothing to do with the so...

Once upon a time, about 10 years ago, it seemed plausible that Kanye West could appear on a song with the Minneapolis underground rap institution Atmosphere. Kanye was bringing backpack-rap aesthetics to the mainstream, and Atmosphere were, for a while there, the greatest and most popular backpacker group in the world. It didn’t happen...

It hasn’t been that long since the last time we heard from the Minneapolis indie-rap institution Atmosphere; The Family Sign, their last album, came out in 2011. But the duo’s next album Southsiders will come out in a different world. The duo’s new single is called “Bitter,” and if it was about t...

The band also talked about the fractious atmosphere following 2010's 'Come Around Sundown'